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US semiconductor firm Broadcom is suing EU antitrust regulators in Luxembourg-based General Court, Europe's second-highest, over their requests for documents containing legal advice from the company's US lawyers in ​a case related to VMware, which it acquired in 2023. "This filing is a ​procedural action solely to protect Broadcom's rights under the long-recognized rules ​on legal professional privilege in non-EU countries, including the US," ⁠said the company, adding: "As a US-headquartered company with global operations, ​Broadcom regards legal professional privilege as a fundamental right that must be protected ​and our action is narrowly tailored to address only this interest." Broadcom said it is acting on a matter of principle and is otherwise cooperating with the European Commission's requests for information.

 

U.S. News

Reuters

Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters has sought to reassure staff after the Asia-focused bank announced plans to cut 15% of back-office jobs by 2030 as it expands AI. Winters said at the time: "It's not cost-cutting. It's replacing in some cases lower-value human capital with the financial capital and the investment capital we're putting in." In ​a memo to staff on Wednesday, which observed that the media coverage of the plans "may be unsettling when reduced to simple ​headlines or a quote out of context," Winters said the bank had been open that its workforce will evolve. "Some roles ‌will ⁠reduce in number, some will change, and new opportunities will emerge. We will continue to prioritise investment in reskilling and redeployment wherever we can . . . Where changes do happen, we will handle them with thought and care."

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

Employees ​and executives at Commerzbank, as well as some investors, criticised UniCredit's new cross-border takeover attempt at the ‌start of the German lender's shareholder meeting. Commerzbank employees, blowing ​whistles, gathered before the AGM with signs reading "UniCredit go away!" Frederik Werning, ​a union official and Commerzbank ​supervisory board member, told ⁠Reuters: "We are deeply concerned that if [the] plans go through, they will not be strategically sound, they will lead to job losses, and they will also threaten German small and medium-sized businesses." Commerzbank has said a deal could result in the loss of 11,000 full-time jobs, nearly a third of the workforce.

 

Reuters

Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume has sought to calm workers by telling them that the company is not currently in talks with Chinese ​manufacturers regarding overcapacity at its car plants in Europe - although the problem does need to ‌be addressed. "We still have excess capacity at our plants in Europe and Germany. We need ​to address this in order to remain competitive," Blume told a general assembly of workers in Wolfsburg, adding that ⁠there were "currently no plans or discussions with Chinese manufacturers." Works council head Daniela Cavallo urged an end to speculation over the future of the German sites. "One gets the impression that Volkswagen is almost a takeover target ⁠and ​needs to be rescued," Cavallo told the general assembly.

 

Reuters

Polymarket has launched prediction markets tied to the future valuations of companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Anduril and SpaceX. "Prediction markets are one of the most powerful tools we have for democratising access to financial information and opportunity," Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan said. "Today’s launch brings that power to one of the last frontiers of financial markets that retail participants have never been able to access." The platform said the new offerings, including IPO timing, valuations, earnings, and secondary market activity, will exclusively source resolution data from Nasdaq Private Market via a new partnership between the two.

 

Financial Times

The Block

Supply disruptions and escalating costs due to instability in the Middle East are prompting European companies in China to revise their sourcing and production strategies. A recent survey by the EU Chamber of Commerce in China revealed that over 25% of European firms in China have altered their supply chain approaches in response to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. Notably, 81% of these companies are struggling to source Middle Eastern inputs, with two-thirds experiencing longer delivery times and increased transport costs. The automotive sector has been particularly affected, with 62% of companies reporting a decline in demand.

 

South China Morning Post

Morgan Stanley has given its entire Hong Kong investment banking team special devices to use in mainland China amid rising concerns over data compliance for staff travelling to the country.

 

Financial Times

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague will today deliver a ruling on the right to strike that could have profound implications for global labour relations. The top United Nations court has been asked to issue a non-binding advisory opinion on whether a treaty drawn up in 1948 by the International Labour Organisation, known as Convention 87, implicitly enshrines such a right. The treaty includes the right for workers "in full freedom, to organise their administration and activities." Unions say this by extension enshrines the right to industrial action; employers disagree. Although not binding, the ruling will in practice clarify the right to strike in international law. Harold Koh, representing the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), said that if the court ruled the right to strike was not inherent in the Convention, "National employer groups would contest the right to strike country by country, focusing first on nations with compliant courts, weak civil societies and ineffective media."

 

France 24

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has expressed his deep concern over the rapid spread of a rare Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, where at least 131 suspected deaths and over 500 cases have been reported. The outbreak has been exacerbated by delayed testing and a lack of approved treatments or vaccines. The WHO has declared the outbreak a public health emergency, and resources are being mobilised to combat the crisis. Meanwhile, Matthew M. Kavanagh, director of the Georgetown University Center for Global Health Policy and Politics, criticised the Trump administration's decision to withdraw from WHO and make deep cuts in foreign aid: “The exact surveillance system meant to catch these viruses early,” he said.

 

Los Angeles Times

NPR / National Public Radio

The Climate Change Committee has urged the government to prepare for temperatures reaching 45C, warning that heatwaves, floods and droughts increasingly threaten daily life in the UK. Recommendations include installing shutters, expanding air conditioning, introducing maximum workplace temperatures and adapting schools after classroom temperatures exceeded 36C last summer. The committee also called on councils to plant more climate-resilient trees and support measures such as roof gardens to reduce urban heat and flooding risks. Advisers warn that nine in ten UK homes are not designed for future heat extremes and estimate heat-related deaths could reach 10,000 annually by 2050 without further action. They also highlighted growing concerns over long-term water shortages.

 

Financial Times

Daily Express

The I

The Times

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has warned that the ongoing Middle East conflict will significantly impact global job markets. An ILO report predicts millions of job losses and a decline in real wages, particularly affecting migrant workers who rely on remittances. "The conflict is expected to affect labour markets for some time, with the scale and duration of its effects depending on how the situation evolves," the report said. Meanwhile, higher energy costs and supply chain disruptions are contributing to economic strain. "Beyond its human toll, the Middle East crisis is not a short-lived disruption. It is a slow-moving and potentially long-lasting shock that will gradually reshape labour markets," said ILO chief economist Sangheon Lee. who wrote the report.  The report highlights that the worst effects will be felt in the Middle East, Gulf states, and Asia-Pacific regions.

 

Khaleej Times Online

US tax authorities will be barred from pursuing claims against Donald Trump, his family members or his companies, under an agreement to halt the President’s $10bn lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS is “forever barred and precluded” from pursuing “examinations” into Trump and “related or affiliated individuals,” including his family, trusts and “related companies, affiliates and subsidiaries,” a one-page document signed only by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche says. The document did not bear the signature of any representative of the IRS or any current Trump lawyers. The agreement applies to “tax returns filed before the effective date” of Monday’s settlement, according to the document. John Koskinen, the former IRS commissioner from 2013 to 2017, said the expanded settlement set a “terrible precedent,” and “It makes you wonder what the President has to hide in those tax returns.”

 

Financial Times

Politico

Reuters

The Guardian